Red Dead Redemption PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo comparison

Which of the current-gen versions of Red Dead Redemption gives you the most bang bang for your buck?

Rockstar has just ported Red Dead Redemption to PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, 13 years after its original release. Before this, the only current-gen console this classic game could be played on was the Xbox Series X|S via Xbox 360 backward compatibility. We’ve played the Nintendo, Xbox, and PlayStation versions of the original Red Dead Redemption, to tell you which game gives you the best value for money.

Red Dead Redemption on Nintendo Switch

We didn't experience noticeable lag or bugs while playing RDR on the Switch / Rockstar Games

The Nintendo Switch version is the one that most people were worried about, as it is the least powerful system of the three. While it came out in 2010, Red Dead Redemption is still a massive open-world game, where memory is stored for different parts of the world, even after you leave, the game remembers what you did there. Combine that with a large number of moving pieces like wild animals, NPCs on horses, and shooting guns, and you have a game that can be intensive on hardware.

However, we only saw small issues when running Red Dead Redemption on Nintendo Switch, even when using the Switch Lite model. There was no noticeable lag when playing, and load times were acceptable. The common things you expect with struggling games, such as environmental pop-in, are completely absent here. There were a couple of visual bugs, like people suddenly hopping on and off horses, but it is minimal and doesn’t distract too much.

Technically, the only noticeable issue was some input lag, where it felt inputs sometimes had to be done multiple times. We also experienced some crashes after long play sessions, where a loading screen never ends, and this was likely due to a memory leak, and is fixed on restart. With the autosave, you won’t lose much progress this way. When playing in handheld mode, it can be hard to see some of the people shooting at you on the small screen, so this is something you should consider.

While Red Dead Redemption runs well on the Switch it is also one of the more expensive versions costing $50. The Switch version is the only one that offers you true portability, so if this is something that matters to you, it is the version you might want to go with. However, if price is what matters the most, then the Xbox version is likely the one you want.

Red Dead Redemption on PS4

The PS4 port of RDR, also playable on PS5 via backward compatibility, features a resolution boost / Rockstar Games

This new port isn’t getting a native PS5 version – instead, PS5 owners will have to settle for running this one in your PS5’s backward-compatible mode. But that’s just fine, as Red Dead Redemption looks damn good while running on any of the modern PlayStation consoles.

The resolution has been boosted, obviously, and while there’s no native HDR implementation, it still manages to look shockingly good on a modern screen. Seeing the orange sunset on the horizon as you ride your horse around the desert still manages to be impactful and impressive, more than 13 years later. And yes, the Undead Nightmare DLC is included.

If you’re not interested in playing RDR portably, then this is easily the best way to start playing on a modern system. But if you’re willing to jump through a minor hoop, then there’s one other option that might be even better for you.

Red Dead Redemption on Xbox 360 played on Series X

The Xbox 360 version of RDR has been playable on the Series X|S for a while, via backward compatibility / Rockstar Games

Red Dead Redemption has been available as a backward compatible enabled title for Xbox for a long while now, complete with 4K resolution for anyone playing on Xbox One X or Xbox Series X. That, of course, includes the other system-level features that come with playing on modern Xbox consoles, like Auto HDR. Yes, the PS5 does have an Auto HDR option, but the results are lacking when compared to the Xbox implementation.

Part of me expected to see the old 360 game looking a little worse for wear when up against a modern PS4 port, but with Auto HDR and that resolution boost, Red Dead Redemption on Xbox Series X might still be the best way to play this classic game.

If you happen to have a modern Xbox console and were lamenting the lack of a modern Xbox port: lament no longer, playing on Xbox One X, Series S, or Series X will still offer a fantastic Red Dead experience.